to England at the Revolution, he was made Bishop of Salisbury, which office he adorned by liberal views and a zealous discharge of duty.  The work by which his fame is chiefly sustained, his History of my Own Times, was, by his direction, not to be pub. until 6 years after his death.  It appeared in 1723.  It gives a sketch of the history of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth, and a detailed account of the immediately succeeding period down to 1713.  While not free from egotism and some party feeling, it is written with a sincere desire for accuracy and fairness, and it has largely the authority of an eye-witness.  The style, if somewhat lacking in dignity, is lively and picturesque.  Among his other writings are a History of the Dukes of Hamilton, and an Exposition of the 39 Articles.

His principal works have been repeatedly printed.  Clarendon Press ed. of My Own Times by Routh (1823 and 1833).

BURNET, THOMAS (1635?-1715).—­Theologian and writer on cosmogony, was b. at Croft near Darlington, and ed. at Camb., and became Master of Charterhouse and Clerk of the Closet to William III.  His literary fame rests on his Telluris Theoria Sacra, or Sacred Theory of the Earth, pub. about 1692, first in Latin and afterwards in English, a work which, in absence of all scientific knowledge of the earth’s structure, was necessarily a mere speculative cosmogony.  It is written, however, with much eloquence.  Some of the views expressed in another work, Archaeolgiae Philosophicae, were, however, so unacceptable to contemporary theologians that he had to resign his post at Court.

BURNS, ROBERT (1759-1796).—­Poet, was b. near Ayr, the s. of William Burness or Burns, a small farmer, and a man of considerable force of character and self-culture.  His youth was passed in poverty, hardship, and a degree of severe manual labour which left its traces in a premature stoop and weakened constitution.  He had little regular schooling, and got much of what education he had from his father, who taught his children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history, and also wrote for them “A Manual of Christian Belief.”  With all his ability and character, however, the elder B. was consistently unfortunate, and migrated with his large family from farm to farm without ever being able to improve his circumstances.  In 1781 Robert went to Irvine to become a flax-dresser, but, as the result of a New Year carousal of the workmen, including himself, the shop took fire and was burned to the ground.  This venture accordingly came to an end.  In 1784 the f. died, and B. with his brother Gilbert made an ineffectual struggle to keep on the farm; failing in which they removed to Mossgiel, where they maintained an uphill fight for 4 years.  Meanwhile, his love affair with Jean Armour had passed through its first stage, and the troubles in connection therewith, combined